Posted by Seth on April 18, 2008 under Uncategorized | 
JetBlue, in conjunction with Dunkin Donuts, is offering triple TrueBlue points for May and early June. The promo requires seats to be purchased by May 6 and flown between May 1 and June 15. Triple points only for the first customer listed on the reservation, so if you’re flying as a group book as separate reservations, not all on one. The “triple” is really only 1.5x, since you already get double every time you book online, but this is still a nice little bonus that they’re throwing out there. Also, this one explicitly states that it can be redeemed multiple times, so fly as much as you want to get the extra points. You have to book through the special link to get the deal, so plan accordingly.
Good stuff!
Posted by Seth on April 17, 2008 under Uncategorized |
In many ways the illusion of the flight attendant job as a a glorious world traveler role has worn off for me. I see the people they have to put up with (like me!), the tough hours and many of the other bad parts of the job. Still, there are some good pieces to it. Sitting in my hotel lobby yesterday afternoon I witnessed a cultural meld, as the Cathay Pacific and Austrian airlines crews crossed paths. The Cathay crew was arriving and the Austrian crew departing and their moods reflected the difference. The Cathay crew was all over the tour desk to get maps and started discussing where they were going shopping. The Austrian crew was rolling their matched luggage out to the bus and sitting around – not particularly sad, but obviously not as happy as the Cathay crew.
Particularly interesting to me was the process the Cathay crew was going through. There was someone from NYC there to manage the check-in process for them rather than having the hotel doing so. And the check-in envelope included not only a room key, but also the crew’s per diem, in US Dollars. I suppose that this helps preclude the need for them to change money and such, and maybe all the airlines have a similar plan for their crews at foreign destinations, but I get the feeling that is not the case. It certainly was fun to watch them with the guide maps and their new found wealth, plotting their assault on the NYC dining and shopping options.
Posted by Seth on April 17, 2008 under Uncategorized |
After the reversal of the NY Passenger Bill of Rights and all the airlines shutting down the past couple weeks, things have been looking pretty grim for passengers. It looks like the government may have done something good on this front, however. It was announced that the maximum compensation for denied boarding on a flight will be doubled, to $800 from the current $400. This covers involuntary denied boarding only, not what they have to offer you when they ask for volunteers, and if you’re on a cheap ticket (good luck finding one of those!) you only get 2x the ticket value, so the number may actually be lower. But this is a good start. It still needs to be published in the Federal Register, and it takes effect 30 days after that. Figure the end of May or early June.
Posted by Seth on April 17, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Several months ago I lamented my dining experiences at Otto NYC. Still, this past week I found myself needing a place to go out for dinner in that neighborhood, so I somewhat reluctantly made a call to the AmEx concierge service to get a reservation. I was a bit surprised that they got it for the exact time I wanted only 4 hours before dinner, but I took it as a good omen and decided that maybe my luck was changing there. I sat at the bar and had a drink before dinner and had an interesting conversation with a woman there where I was lamenting the food but still willing to give it another go. We discussed some of the highlights of dining there (the cheese plates with preserves are quite good and fun) and then I made my way to the hostess to get our table. That’s when reality set in. As it turns out, I did not have a reservation for dinner at Otto. I later came to find out that I had a dinner reservation at Alta. In retrospect, Alta actually looks like a good menu to try, but at this point I was in a bit of a mental funk trying to figure out what was happening with AmEx and with dinner. Fortunately, when I called AmEx they were able to figure everything out and explain to me what had happened. And I asked them to get another reservation for me instead, at Chinatown Brasserie (caution, sound on that page). It was my first trip to Chinatown Brasserie, though my wife has been a few times for Sunday brunch, and i must say that I was quite impressed.
The menu focuses on dim sum, though there are also some main course options. And while some of the dim sum options are more traditional (shrimp/pork dumplings), there are some that are a bit more creative. That is where the deliciously trafe comes into play. One of the dim sum options is the Lobster-cream cheese sticks. They are basically wonton wrappers with a bit of melted cream cheese and lobster meat chunked in, rolled about a quarter to half in in diameter and then deep fried. They’re served with more cream cheese dipping sauce and scallions to perk up the flavor a bit. And they are delicious! They aren’t the most trafe delicious dinner option I’ve had – that would probably be the shrimp salad BLT sandwich – but they certainly were well on their way. The traditional dim sum stuff that we had was all OK, but certainly no better than random chinatown dim sum shops. Then again, this place was pretty clean and nice, so I guess that’s where the extra money is going. They also have regular entrees on the menu, if you don’t want the dim sum approach to dining, though this is certainly one of many meals we’ve had made up of appetizers/tapas/small plates that I think benefited from that approach.
We’ll be going back at some point, I’m sure, and we’ll definitely be getting the lobster-cream cheese sticks again when we do!
Posted by Seth on April 16, 2008 under Uncategorized |
One of the very poorly kept secrets to travel as a non-elite is that the “good seats” at the front of the plane, normally reserved for elites, are made available to everyone once check-in starts. So 24 hours prior to departure most airlines allow anyone to snag a seat towards the front of the plane, regardless of status. USAir is taking away the feature from their flights. Starting in early May, USAir will now charge non-elites for the aisle and window seats in the front of the coach section of the plane. Not completely clear to me from the email I just got about the change is whether elites can continue to select the seats for free in advance, or if they will have to fight with the non-elites willing to pay at T-24. The pricing was also not in the email, but it will vary based on flight distance.
This seems similar to United’s Economy+ program, except the seats don’t have any extra legroom. I’m sure the seats will be assigned to passengers for free at the gate if there are no other seats available, but for now it looks like USAir is ratcheting up the competition between airlines for charging money for services that used to be free.
Updated (4.17.08 6:10a): Elites will continue to be able to select the seats in advance, so that isn’t a big deal. Thanks, Flying Critic!
Posted by Seth on April 15, 2008 under News |
Next time you’re sitting on a plane and wondering just how much money the airline is bringing in based on the flight, remember to consider the cargo. Often overlooked, the cargo operations on some routes can actually cover the costs of flying the plane, with passengers brought along just for incremental revenue rather than the other way around.
Since launching their service between Atlanta and Shanghai two weeks ago, Delta has reported over $1MM in cargo revenue on the route, including one flight with $120,000 in cargo fees. That is enough to pay the fuel bill for the flight even without a single passenger on board.
KLM operates several of their 747s in a “combi” configuration, trading out ~150 seats on the the main deck for cargo. And Alaska Air is known for the heavy salmon loads that they carry during peak season. The largest cargo shipper in the USA? Probably the US Postal Service, which uses commercial airplanes for almost all of their first class mail conveyance.
Anyways, as people continue talking about the cost of doing business and fuel and whatnot, just remember that the cargo plays a big role in whether routes or even airlines are profitable.
Posted by Seth on April 14, 2008 under Uncategorized |
With the merger announcement this evening there seems to be a ton of speculation on the future of the frequent flyer programs for both Delta and Northwest, as well as for the other rumored mergees, United and Continental. To everyone wondering what this all means, SETTLE DOWN!
I try not to yell too often, so let me say it again more calmly. Settle down!
First off, the merger actually has to be approved. NW/DL is almost certainly going to be approved. CO/UA is less of a sure thing, but will probably eventually happen, I think. Still, the Delta folks have made it very clear that the timeline for their merger closing is roughly the end of 2008. And then, once the merger is complete, they will start work on integrating the carriers and the frequent flyer program. I’d expect that the WorldPerks program balances will be transferred at a 1:1 ratio right into SkyMiles and from then on it is SkyMiles rules (which are way worse than WorldPerks) and SkyMiles partners (also worse). Similarly, for the UA/CO arrangement, nothing is going to happen until sometime next year. Just not gonna happen that quickly.
So earn out your status and miles this year on whichever carrier you tend to earn on anyways. You’ll still have elite status next year on that carrier, even if it does merge. Ands you can figure out next year when it actually happens. There’s too much travel to do between now and then to start worrying about it now.
Posted by Seth on April 14, 2008 under Uncategorized |
After dancing around the situation the past several weeks in hopes that their pilots would actually have an agreement to make a merger run smoothly, Delta and Northwest have decided that the time is now, with or without an agreement with their pilots. They’ve announced a merger that will keep the Delta name and CEO moving forward and expect that the merger will close by the end of 2008.
Not surprisingly, the carriers are going out of their way to tell everyone how good this will be for the customers, very little of which I believe. Among other things, the release states that they are keeping all the current hubs, which just doesn’t make sense. Atlanta, Memphis, Cincinnati and Detroit are all relatively closely packed in the eastern part of the US. And one of the benefits of the merger was supposed to be the ability to reduce capacity to increase fares, and they cannot do that if they continue to run hub operations at all the existing hubs.
Oh, and they still haven’t figured out the pilot seniority integration issues, which could destroy the deal, much like it has the AmericaWest/USAir deal from a few years ago.
This was inevitable based on the relative weakness of the two airlines, but it will likely not be good for anyone in the short term, despite the assurances from Delta right now. Also, look for a United/Continental merger in the very near future as well. Odds of them sitting idle on the sidelines are very, very low at this point.
Posted by Seth on April 13, 2008 under News |
Travel + Leisure magazine has an article in this month’s issue (and online) about some of the scariest runways in the world, including pictures and why they are considered to be so scary. Looking at the list, I’m actually surprised by a few of the included sites, and completely in agreement with others. Matekane air strip in Lesotho (pic in the link), for instance, is very short and drops off into a ravine at the end. Pilots report that airplanes aren’t always actually flying when they hit the end of the runway, and they have to continue to gain speed during their drop off the edge of the cliff. Others on the list, like Washington’s National airport and JFK in New York City are on the list simply because the approach procedures require some “difficult” navigation. In the case of those two, however, the difficulty is regulatory, not real. If a plane on approach to National is a bit off they veer into restricted airspace, not a mountain. And LaGuardia has water at the end of two shorter runways than what JFK presents.
Based on the metrics that they use I’d consider adding Queenstown, New Zealand and Quito, Ecuador to the list. Both have mountainous approaches and some serious banking involved. And both are fun destinations to visit!
Posted by Seth on April 13, 2008 under News |
In the case of some Lonely Planet books, the answer might be none. According to one Lonely Planet contributor, he actually wrote one of the books without ever visiting the country covered. Of course, all these revelations are made in another book that he is releasing, so it is likely that this is just more publicity for that. But it does raise the issue of how much faith we place in travel guides when heading out on a trip. Personally, I’ve been burned by Lonely Planet a couple times and no longer find that their guides match up with my travel habits/desires. Still, I depend on guides at least to get me started, and definitely to help me out once I’m on the ground somewhere. Of course, I also depend on the locals once I get “there” since they are likely to know more than a guide book from a few years ago.
Oh, and the Lonely Planet claims that the books seem just fine to them.
